sbdcsierra Chapter 1759 Progress Together
Chapter 1759 Progress Together
Chapter 1759 Let's Progress Together
Lin Xiuqing briefly recounted her experiences in Guangzhou over the past few days. The children in the car chattered excitedly, asking questions that piqued their interest, and she patiently answered them one by one.
I can't just give a patient, smiling answer; there's someone in the car who might be my future daughter-in-law.
You shouldn't let people think your family is disharmonious; you should leave a good impression.
Zheng Shuya listened intently, feeling quite shocked. She knew Ye Chenghu's family was well-off, but she didn't know they were this well-off—they even owned a car, and his mother could drive!
The mention of Guangzhou, the Canton Fair, Zhoushan, factories, and so on opened up a whole new world for her. It turned out that the boasts the boys in her class made about Ye Chenghu were all true.
No one could know the shock she felt inside. She pretended to be calm and kept looking ahead. When they reached the intersection, she would remind them whether to go left or right.
When they arrived at the entrance of their village, she politely greeted them and then got out of the car.
After Lin Xiuqing and the others got out of the car, she asked, "Ye Chenghu, you need to give me some instructions."
Ye Chenghu pretended to be stupid and said, "What do you need to explain? Let's hurry home, I'm so hungry."
"When you walk your female classmate home, you dawdle and don't even feel hungry."
"Didn't we already say we'd do our chores together? After we're done, we'll walk together and then head home on the way."
"I don't believe you for a second. You've never straightened your head since you left school. You don't even look where you're going. You'd rather twist your head off and stare at other students right in front of you."
Ye Xiaoxi added, "And you didn't even see our big car parked on the side of the road. I had to call you before you noticed it, even when it was right in front of you."
Ye Chengyang interjected, "Big brother only saw Zheng Shuya."
Ye Chenghu's face flushed red. "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."
"Explain," Lin Xiuqing said, looking ahead as she drove.
"Mom, don't listen to their nonsense, we're just classmates."
"Xu~"
The brother and sister weren't having it and were trying to sabotage it.
"You two shut up."
"If your eldest brother won't tell, you two will. There's a reward for a clear explanation."
The brother and sister exchanged a glance, then looked at Ye Chenghu, who was glaring at them.
Ye Chengyang coughed lightly, "Mother, you should ask my eldest brother. We don't really know either. He's definitely the one who knows better."
Ye Xiaoxi also looked at Ye Chenghu, "Big brother, why don't you talk to Mom? Sister Xiaoya has such good grades, she'll definitely get into university. If you study with her and let her tutor you, you'll definitely get in too, and Mom definitely won't hit you."
Ye Chenghu was conflicted.
Lin Xiuqing didn't urge him, but just glanced at him in the rearview mirror every now and then.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell him when your dad comes in a couple of days.”
Ye Chenghu was speechless. "Even if I don't tell you, you'll definitely tell my dad when he comes."
"Then tell me now, that girl was fair-skinned and seemed quite polite. Since I ran into her, you have to tell me. I didn't hit or scold you, and I didn't say anything nasty in front of her. You two didn't do anything inappropriate either. What's wrong with telling me? Unless you have something to hide."
“What could I possibly have on my mind?” Ye Chenghu protested. “I’m just worried that you’ll be unhappy, angry, and object. Then the whole family will take turns criticizing me.”
"Your whole family is criticizing you? Did I criticize you? Or did your younger brother and sister criticize you? I think they're giving you advice like strategists."
Ye Chengyang: "Exactly! I didn't criticize you. We even went out with you to find books and figure out how to write love letters. In the end, you didn't even tell me whether it worked out or not?"
Ye Xiaoxi: "Big brother, you're so immoral. You use him and then throw him away. Mom, we don't even know if big brother and Sister Xiaoya are together or not. He doesn't tell us. He sneaks out on weekends without telling us if he's with Sister Xiaoya. He just says he's going to school to play ball. Anyway, he goes to school every weekend now. We've never seen him so enthusiastic about studying."
“My older brother always comes home very late after school, and I don’t even know that you come home late from get off work, Mom. I think it will be the same as today. I’ll take Zheng Shuya home first.”
"Sister Xiaoya is really nice. We used to go to the bookstore together on weekends, and she would bring me snacks and help me with my homework. My older brothers find me annoying, and they don't know as much as Sister Xiaoya."
Ye Chenghu glared at the two of them. They had been covering for him earlier, but now they were spilling the beans, revealing everything.
"Looks like you've had quite a bit of contact. You go out every weekend. You two get along really well."
"Of course, my brother said he wanted to develop a relationship with Sister Xiaoya, but Sister Xiaoya likes me and asked him to bring me along. But now my brother doesn't take me with him when he goes out anymore. He hasn't taken me with him for the past two months. He's definitely up to something!"
"Shut up, I've already told you everything, what else is there for me to say?"
With everything completely exposed, Ye Chenghu stopped struggling.
"Aren't you going to tell me?" Lin Xiuqing said, looking at him through the rearview mirror.
"That's exactly what they said. They've told them everything."
"So, did you two get together?"
Several pairs of eyes on the bus were staring at him at the same time; everyone was curious.
Ye Chenghu was a little hesitant to speak. With so many people watching, how could he say anything? "Mom, why are you so gossipy?"
"I'm just concerned about my son's school life. You're already dating, and I happened to run into you today. Can't I even ask you a few questions?"
"Let's talk about it when we get back."
Ye Chengyang protested, "What can't I say!"
Ye Xiaoxi: "Mom said my aunt is at our house this afternoon and we'll have dinner together tonight. If I go back, my aunt will definitely be there too, along with my two cousins!"
"Then let's not talk about it anymore. Anyway, you all know, and it won't affect our studies. She can even help me solve and explain problems!"
Lin Xiuqing chuckled, "So you found a free tutor?"
"That's not quite right. We're making progress together. We've agreed to define our relationship after we go to university. Right now, our focus is on our studies, and she's working hard to get into university. I'm a little behind right now, but she helps me. She lets me ask her questions when I don't understand something. Every weekend, we go to school to study and do our homework, and she explains the problems to me."
“I’m telling you, for the past two months, every weekend you’ve said you’re going to school to play basketball, but you haven’t taken me with you.”
"Why would I bring you along? You're just a nuisance."
"So, you and Sister Xiaoya aren't dating anymore? You failed?"
Ye Chenghu glared at her angrily, "This is a success, not a failure. We're just focusing on our studies right now, and we'll confirm our relationship after graduation."
"Oh~"
"But, cousin, what if you don't get into university..." Ye Chengyang quickly covered Pei Yu's mouth.
"What are you saying? My brother will definitely pass the exam for my sister-in-law and two cars! Now that the requirements have been increased, he has to pass."
"Yes."
Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "Your decision is correct, and I fully support you. The most important thing right now is to study hard and get into university. As for dating, it's not too late to start after you go to university. No one will interfere with your dating life then, and you can get married if you want."
"Really? You don't object to us having contact?"
"Why object? Isn't it good as it is now? You are making progress together, it's not affecting your studies, and you clearly know what you want. It's great."
Ye Chenghu was happy, though he had been quite nervous, afraid that his mother would scold him and forbid him from seeing her again.
"Mom, Xiaoya's grades are really good. She, our class monitor, and the academic representative are always competing for first place. We also have a grade ranking system with more than a dozen classes and hundreds of students, and she always manages to be in the top 50."
"That's pretty good, you should be able to get into a top university?"
"I don't know. He's only in his second year of high school. He'll be in his final year in the second half of the year. We'll have to wait for his teachers to give an estimate."
"Then you have to work hard too. That girl has such good grades, how can you be worthy of her if your grades are so bad?"
"When it comes to dating, we don't look at grades. We talk about feelings, not grades. I'm so handsome and I can play basketball, so I'm already very popular. I often receive love letters!"
Ye Xiaoxi interjected, "But big brother, you're a bit short. You're not even as tall as Dad..."
"You brat, I'm already considered tall among the boys in my class! There are only one or two people in the class as tall as Dad. You always compare yourself to Dad. You might as well find someone like Dad in the future."
"I want someone like Dad! No one can compare to Dad."
"No one can compare to Dad, so you'll stay single forever."
"So be it if I'm going to be single."
Lin Xiuqing chuckled, "Your father isn't here, so it's pointless for you to say all this. It's a bit of a waste. Wait until he comes in a few days, then you can tell him. I guarantee he'll be overjoyed."
"I'll call my dad as soon as I get back."
"I'm still growing, and I'll grow taller. In two years, I'll definitely be as tall as my dad."
Lin Xiuqing said, "Yes, your dad said playing ball will make you grow taller, and you play ball every day, so you'll definitely grow taller."
Ye Chengyang: "I also want to play ball every day to grow taller."
Lin Xiuqing added, "I brought back a bunch of local specialties from Guangzhou. You can pick some out when you get back and share them with your classmates at school. Chenghu, you should also pick some for your little teacher."
"Not 'Little Teacher,' call her Xiaoya, otherwise it sounds weird."
"Weren't you sitting with the class monitor? How come you're getting along so well with Xiaoya?"
"Yeah, being deskmates with the class monitor doesn't stop me from liking Xiaoya. Back then, Xiaoya's deskmate wouldn't switch with me because she thought I was from out of town. Now I can switch, but it's only half a semester before vacation. Let's talk about it in the second half of senior year."
"I thought you wrote the love letter to your deskmate a few months ago."
"No way, my deskmate isn't pretty, she's just good at academics. Xiaoya is pretty and good at academics, I noticed her when we were in the first year of high school."
"So you've had your eye on her since the first year of high school."
"No..." Ye Chenghu felt he had talked too much.
Ye Chengyang leaned back on the seat in front of him and said, "Mom, I think it was the right thing for you to come pick us up in your car today. It really made my brother proud! It gave him so many points!"
"My classmates all know that my family owns a lot of boats, a factory, and a Mercedes-Benz."
"Your classmates may know, but it's probably all hearsay. They probably haven't seen it themselves. Zheng Shuya definitely hasn't seen it. Today, she's seeing it for herself. Big brother, she's had a brief encounter with Mom now, and she's definitely going to like you even more now."
"Since you know so much, are you in a relationship?!"
"Stop talking nonsense. You're having a puppy love and you're trying to pin it on me."
Lin Xiuqing said, "No early dating is allowed. It's okay for Chenghu and others to agree to take the college entrance exam together and make progress together. Okay, we're home. No need to nag anymore. Get out of the car."
As soon as the car drove into the yard and parked, the twins inside the house immediately ran out to call for help.
After everyone shouted once, they watched as the car door opened and then climbed in.
Ye Chenghu was about to close the car door when he saw the two of them crawl under his armpits. "Hey... what are you two doing? We're getting off the car, why are you two still crawling back in?"
"I want to take a ride!"
Lin Xiuqing smiled as she looked at the two of them, "Then let them stay in the car. Anyway, I turned off the engine and took out the key. They always have to climb into the car every time they come over."
Ye Huimei ran out and pulled the two out of the car. "Don't make trouble. Why are you riding in a car? It's not like you've never ridden in one before. We're about to eat. I'll just let you see and touch it."
"Sigh, when is my dad going to buy a car?"
"Mom, should I ask Dad to buy one too?"
Ye Huimei stared at the two speechlessly, "Do you think you're buying cabbage? You're grown up and you'll have to pay for it yourself."
Lin Xiuqing took the opportunity to lock the car door.
As soon as Ye Xiaoxi got out of the car, she ran home. She was stunned as soon as she entered. "Wow~ there are clothes all over the floor... Mom, how many clothes did you buy?"
"There are a few children's clothes and little skirts. I'll save them for you and you can share them after dinner."
"Mother, is there anything suitable for Xiaoya?"
"I'll pick out two for you later."
Ye Huimei asked curiously, "Who is Xiaoya?"
"My future sister-in-law!" Ye Xiaoxi blurted out, betraying Ye Chenghu.
"what?"
Ye Chenghu was powerless to stop it; Ye Xiaoxi and Pei Yu had already spilled all their beans to him.
"That's great! Chenghu is much better than Chenghe, and he's much better at finding a partner. Now your family will have two college graduates. People will be so envious."
"Aunt, don't listen to their nonsense. It's not even close to happening yet. Stop spreading rumors everywhere."
Ye Xiaoxi retorted, "You were the one who was just about to pick out clothes for Sister Xiaoya; you were the one who said it first."
"You are the only one who talks a lot."
"I'm going to call Dad, I'm not talking to you."
She ran to the sofa, jumped on it, picked up the phone, and dialed.
Ye Yaodong also arrived at the factory in the afternoon. Without taking a break, he went to the office and started busying himself with sending out orders to everyone.
Each person should keep their own orders safe, and they will be responsible for expediting and delivering the goods when the time comes.
Then a copy needs to be made and sent to the production workshop so that the production department can speed up the delivery. There are also a series of coordination matters to be arranged.
Since returning to the factory, he has been extremely busy and hasn't had a chance to sit down and rest.
He didn't return to his office to answer the phone until the office phone rang and someone ran over to inform him.
"Hey, where?"
"This is my place, Dad. Dad, I've missed you so much. I thought you would come back with Mom, but you didn't come back, only Mom came back. I haven't seen you in so long, I miss you so much, even more than I miss Mom. When are you done with your work and coming to see us?"
Upon hearing Ye Yaodong's voice, Ye Xiaoxi launched into a rapid-fire speech.
"Speak slowly," he said, babbling on and on, almost catching me. "I'll come see you when I'm done with this in a few days."
"I said hurrying up would save on phone bills!"
"You think you can get away with this little bit of phone bill? Where did you learn that?"
"It was my own idea. I shortened the two-minute conversation to one minute, which saved me one minute of phone bill. We should be thrifty and frugal."
"If I didn't hear you clearly, then there's no point in you talking. We've already talked on the phone, what's a little difference? You just got back from school?"
"Yes, Mom picked us up from school. Dad, do you know what we saw when we got home from school?"
"What do you see? Is it that old snake again?"
"No, that's not it. I ran into Big Brother and Sister Xiaoya. Big Brother wasn't looking at the road at all; his eyes were glued to Sister Xiaoya's face. We parked the car on the side of the road, and he didn't even see us..."
Ye Xiaoxi immediately betrayed her older brother, rattling off a string of stories about him.
She believed that since her mother knew everything, and her father would find out sooner or later, there was no point in hiding it.
Her mother wasn't angry at all, and even took Xiaoya home, speaking so gently. Her father certainly wouldn't be angry either, and she wanted to talk to him more.
Ye Yaodong only realized what was going on after hearing the rest: Xiaoya was Ye Chenghu's girlfriend, who was a good student and was tutoring him. The two had already agreed to improve together and go to university together.
"Isn't this great? Next time, have your older brother invite them over for dinner."
"Okay, then I'll talk to my older brother. Dad, you can come back in a few days."
"Sure, you can ask your older brother if you can."
"Big brother is good at keeping secrets. He didn't tell us anything, and he wouldn't say anything even when we asked him. Luckily, we ran into him today, so he couldn't hide from us anymore."
"That's right, your brother is smart. He struck first and found a free tutor to help him get into university, and he can even marry her later."
"Dad, you have to give my brother two toy cars as a reward later."
"No problem, as long as he can pass the exam, I'll buy it for him."
Ye Xiaoxi was overjoyed, as if she were going to buy it for her. She turned around to call Ye Chenghu, but she didn't see him.
"Where's my older brother? He was just here a moment ago. Never mind. Dad, when are you coming over?"
"How about in two or three days? I'll come and stay for a week then, is that okay?"
"Okay, that's great."
Ye Yaodong planned to come and keep them company while he took the opportunity to handle the freight yard matter.
Last month, I took some time to come with Ye Chengjiang and Ye Chenghe to reserve the car and arranged for more than a dozen people to take driving tests. Because we were also busy with the Canton Fair, we didn't stay long, as the freight yard was not yet ready.
Now, after I've been busy with my current tasks for a couple of days, I'll bring a few people over to oversee the conversion of another piece of land in Pudong into a freight yard.
All we need to do is find someone to prepare the land, build an outer wall around it, and then construct a few buildings to serve as offices and dormitories.
He arranged for all the people who went to take the driving test to be veterans, and they all live in the dormitory area he built before.
I'm also here to check on their exam progress.
There are too many things to do; even if he comes over, he'll have to take care of things instead of just resting.
The factory also needs to install another batch of production machines to prepare for the Canton Fair in the second half of the year. This year's output will definitely be two or three times that of last year.
June is almost here, and then the fishing moratorium will be in effect. We don’t know what will happen this year, but the ban on fishing in coastal waters will definitely continue. He will definitely have to arrange for the Dong Sheng ships to return with his father.
With a ton of urgent matters at hand, he could only spare a couple of days to make a trip to Shanghai. Who knew when he'd have time after that?
Ye Xiaoxi lay on the sofa with the phone in her hand, chatting with her father about this and that for a while, until Lin Xiuqing called her to dinner, at which point she reluctantly hung up the phone.
"Dad, Mom's calling us for dinner. I'm hanging up now. You have to keep your word and come see us in a few days."
"Okay, I got it. Let's eat first."
"Then you should go eat too. Don't work too hard, okay? Your mother and I will feel sorry for you. You are the pillar of our family, no, the pillar that supports the sky."
"Alright, alright, I understand, housekeeper."
"Been hanging up, mua~"
After hanging up the phone, Ye Xiaoxi ran to the dining table excitedly and then looked up to Ye Chenghu for credit.
"Big brother, Dad said you should invite Sister Xiaoya over for dinner in a few days!"
Ye Chenghu's chopsticks fell to the table, and he stared in disbelief, "You..."
He almost swore, but quickly stopped himself.
"You big mouth, how can you spread rumors so fast? I just said it, and you immediately called Dad to tell him. Can't I keep any secrets? Is there any room for secrets in this family?"
"What secrets do you want? Mother already knows, the whole family knows! What secrets could there possibly be in the family?"
"How can you be so blabbering! Couldn't you have kept it a secret? It's only been a few minutes, and you told your aunt as soon as you got back, and then you called and told Dad too."
"What does it matter? I've kept it a secret for you for so long. Now that Mom knows, it means Dad knows too. I just told Dad beforehand, and he was so happy. He kept praising you for being so capable and promising."
Ye Chenghu's momentum weakened a bit, and his anger subsided somewhat. "Then you can't tell everyone everything. You can't keep any secrets. I won't tell you anything from now on."
"Impossible, you can't hide anything, you can't fool our sharp eyes."
Ye Chenghu glared at her, "I won't let you know anything from now on, I won't buy you anything to eat, don't even think about squeezing a single penny out of me. Tonight, after you go to sleep, I'm going to slap you twice more, until your cheeks are swollen."
"I just argued with Dad to reward you with two Mercedes-Benz cars, and he agreed. I'll tell him not to buy you Mercedes-Benz cars or two small cars. If you pass the exam, he'll only buy you Grandpa's car. If you fail, he'll beat you to death."
The siblings' friendship capsized just like that, and they wanted to kill each other.
The twins even stubbornly got involved.
"My cousin said 'die' three times, so my older cousin is going to die three times already!"
"That's terrible, at least we can still have three more feasts..."
Ye Chenghu almost lost his composure.
Ye Chengyang was already laughing heartily, "Eating three banquets, hahaha..."
Ye Huimei couldn't help but laugh and glared at the two of them, "What's it to you? You two talk too much. Even eating can't shut you up. You always have to interrupt. Hurry up and eat your food."
Lin Xiuqing also tried to smooth things over, saying, "Stop arguing and hurry up and eat. Your dad just talks nonsense, don't listen to him."
Ye Chenghu glared at Ye Xiaoxi, then lowered his head to eat.
Ye Xiaoxi glared even wider, not to be outdone.